


When The Timer Stops

by LillyPupGal



Series: RE2 Soul Timers Universe [1]
Category: Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soul Timers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Big Tyrant Boi and Smol Rookie Boi have no idea what's going on, Blood, But they're going to figure it out together!, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Gore, Kinda a/b/o, Lots of zombies die, M/M, No siree, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slight bit of (future) angst/pain, Slow Burn, Tyrant instincts are a lot more primal than humans, and a couple lickers and dogs too, author doesn't know how to tag, because trenchy does NOT appreciate them trying to eat his cop, but not really???, but this is Resident Evil we're talking about, idk how you'd tag that tbh, no beta we die like men, or summary, shrugs, so are you surprised?, whoops, yay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2020-08-14 07:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20188468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LillyPupGal/pseuds/LillyPupGal
Summary: Leon S. Kennedy arrives in Raccoon City a week after the call to stay away with a heavy heart full of both hope and fear. He was going to meet his soulmate in the middle of the hell that had been unleashed on the unsuspecting city and it terrifies him. After all what kind of person could survive a week in this city after the outbreak occurred? Unless they're not an average person...





	1. Meet and Run

**Author's Note:**

> My first story here! Comments and criticism are welcome, please let me know of any mistakes/errors that you find and I'll be happy to fix them! Enjoy the story! -Lilly

Everyone was born with a timer. It tells you down to the exact moment when you will lock eyes with your soulmate.

No one knows why that is, or how or why the timers came to be, they just simply were. Some people had been trying for as long as they could to figure out why but most had just simply accepted it as another part of what humans were. To some timers were they're everything, they did everything they could to shorten their time, because your timer could change depending on what choices you made, from ordinary everyday things to big life changing decisions. To other people it meant nothing, it was just another date in their lives that they had to watch out for.

For Leon S. Kennedy it had meant dreams of that moment where he would lock eyes with his soulmate and his timer would go off, of where it would happen and how his soulmate would react to him. Just a few weeks ago he'd been taking eager guesses at who it could be. A neighbor in the apartment building he was going to be living in, a civilian he'd meet while walking to the station, or even one of his fellow officers? That would certainly complicate matters for a rookie, but he'd been certain they'd find a way to work through it.

And now his timer... it was down to just a few minutes. **3 Minutes 14 Seconds** to be exact.

And he felt nothing but fear and apprehension at the thought of it.

Ever since this nightmare had started, everything from walking into that gas stations backroom and watching that poor sheriff getting his throat torn apart to having to shoot the ma- no, that monster that had killed him, it had been but a prelude to the hell he'd have to endure once he and Claire had made it to the heart of Raccoon City and while trying to escape the seemingly endless puzzles in the police station. Watching Elliot get torn in half, finding the slashed up and mangled bodies of the two officers, those _things_ lunging at him from the ceiling and trying to gut him with massive malformed claws. 

Marvin catching sight of the timer on Leon's left wrist and giving him a sad knowing stare, sparing one grief driven moment looking at his own wrist which held a fully counted down timer with a single blood red line through the middle. 

All the times of adrenaline fueled running, fighting, and way too close calls were starting to take their toll on the young cop. His hands had acquired a faint tremble sometime over the last hour or so, probably since he'd watch Ben get his head crushed in by a massive gloved fist like it was a damn grape. His eyes where growing heavier the longer he continued on, the fear and adrenaline could only keep him going for so long. All of that and more combined with the overwhelming stress of the whole situation was starting to slow him down. A sick cold feeling settling in his belly like a lead weight that he couldn't afford to deal with right now.

Not now that his timer was down to **2 Minutes 36 Seconds** as he steps back out of the boiler room, newly acquired club key safely in one of his hip pouches, and readies Matilda to take out the two zombies that had crashed through the door earlier since like most of the other creatures in the station they didn't stay down after the first time they dropped and where slowly getting back on their feet to try and take a bite out of him, _again_ .

After he drops them both he spares a few seconds to stare at his timer, in neat black numbers on his left wrist, as he turns the valve to redirect the water from the right pipe to the left with his right hand.

**1 Minutes 26 Seconds**

He makes his way back up to the handle and water pipes and to use them to finally extinguish the helicopter fire. Stopping first to pick leaves from the two green herbs he hadn't seen under the stairs. 

**35 Seconds**

He carefully nudges the door open and stops to pluck some leaves off of the red herb that's sitting in the floor before making his way around the corner.

**15 Seconds**

He turns the corner and faces the helicopter just as it starts to creak, and then the helicopter lurches and is forced upwards and wedged further into the damage ceiling and hallway like it's nothing.

**5 Seconds**

Leon freezes up and can only stare in horror at the massive figure of the thing clad in a black leather trench coat that had oh so casually lifted thousands of pounds of metal with a _single hand_ as it lowers its arm back down.

It looks down and locks eyes with him from under the brim of the black fedora atop its head.

The insistant chiming of his timer going off barely registers in his mind as piercing silver eyes stare back at his own navy blue eyes in bewildered surprise and confusion. The chiming from his wrist is being echoed by the chimes from the grey giant's right wrist.

Leon S. Kennedy has finally met his soulmate. 

And the first thing he does is _**run**_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, not the best first impressions I'm afraid....


	2. Newfound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: *Has 6 am thoughts to start a multi chapter Leon/Mr.X soulmates fic and somehow gets the first chapter written in under 20 minutes.*
> 
> Brain: Hey every other chapter is going to be a pov switch between these two mkay? :)
> 
> Me: Wait what.
> 
> Brain: Look you wrote it already! :D
> 
> Me: ......you know what sure why the hell not, the more the merrier.
> 
> -Again do let me know if you guys see any mistakes/errors I need to fix.
> 
> Enjoy chapter 2! 
> 
> -Lilly

Blood. 

Rot. 

The groans and growling of the infected ones.

Unimportant. His mission was to hunt down and eliminate any survivors that were unfortunate enough to cross his path. The order had been very clear. No witnesses.

He catches the fresh sent of the uninfected, follows it from where he'd come across another wrecked car that was still burning despite the pouring rain. It's only difference from the other flaming wrecks being the two uninfected's scents. They are very fresh, barely a few hours old, it leaves the possibility that the uninfecteds were dead already, but he has his orders. 

He spends a few seconds analyzing both scents, the first being a male, the second one female. Two young scared packmates, scents clouded with _fear/confusion/pain_. But... something in him tugs when he investigates the male's scent further. The sent is somewhat soft and airy, like it dances on the wind, with a hint of sweetness and fire merging at its edges. Something in him urges him after it, tells him on an instinctive level that this uninfected is different from the others he's hunted. 

So he follows the trail, all the way up to one of the larger buildings within the city. A harsh white glare emits from the letters decorating the building he's standing in front of. 

**R.P.D.**

He knows what letters and words are, and he knows how to read them, but he has never read this strange three letter word before. He stands before the building's gates and allows himself a brief moment to puzzle over it before he continues onward, casually swatting aside the infected ones that were snarling and clawing at the gates and iron fences surrounding the building. 

He knows he's not supposed to know how to read, to understand written words and numbers. He was made to receive orders and obey, not have questions and sentience.

But his Handler had shown him letters and numbers, had taught him to read. His Handler helped him to learn understanding, confusion, curiously. Handler explained to him that he can _feel_. Handler had done these things for him and he knows enough to understand that it is because he is not like the others. 

It started when he'd noticed the moving numbers on his right wrist when he'd first awakened. His basic programming was to alert his Handler to such things in case it was a potential mutation risk.

When Handler had taken a look at his right wrist and seen the moving numbers he'd gone a sickly shade of white, stuttered out a noise of alarm and shock before quickly ushering him over to table that held the standard limiter outfit and started to dress him. 

Handler placed a strange substance on his arm just before the right glove and limiter belts, it made the numbers melt into his skin. Like they where hiding from the world. Handler had looked up at him and there had been sympathy and hope in his eyes. 

Handler had quietly issued his first order to him._ 'Whenever you're not wearing the paint under no circumstances can you let anyone see those numbers. Well no one except your soulmate.'_

He had become puzzled at this. He did not know what a _'soul'_ was but the term _'mate'_ had been used. Was he supposed to find a mate? His programming wasn't made with courting protocols in mind, but something did call to him when he could catch a glimpse of the numbers upon his skin.

Over the week he had with Handler before the mission he had tried to ask Handler to explain his difference compared to the others in better detail but they could only get so far with basic gesturing. Handler had eventually figured out most of his confusion and had done his best to explain while quietly rolling his lab glove down enough that they could both look at his numbered right wrist. Handler's numbers don't move but he could tell they were still very important.

_'I'm not the best person to explain this I'm afraid...' _

He shoves the gate closed behind him as the infected tried to clumsily lurch past him to get at the building. 

_'It's, just this feeling. This call to do certain things, make certain choices.'_

He looks at the barred up doors in mild curiosity before the distant noise of wind rushing into the building draws him around the left corner of the building.

_'And then one day you'll look down and suddenly your timer is down to hours. Minutes even. And your soul will just, urge you. Guide you.'_

He scans the left side of the building and finds a broken window with strange yellow streams dangling from it. He carefully steps inside, managing to avoid snagging on the shattered glass or splintered wood that still clings to the frame.

_'And when it's down to seconds and you're looking around, hoping, praying that they're doing the same.'_

He scans the nearby area, noting the dead infected that appeared to have been shot. And then...that sent. It's the young male again. He follows the sent to the right and down the hallway, stooping down to enter into a much brighter lit area.

_'And, God that feeling when you finally find them and your eyes lock for the first time. You just, feel complete and whole for the first time in your life. Like there was a piece of you missing and you didn't even know it till that very moment.'_

He moves through the smaller section into what appears to be the main area of the building. There's an infected somewhere in the room, freshly turned by the scent of it. Also a male, but not the same scent he'd been following.

_'Ah, should probably warn you about the bond. It starts the instant you lock eyes with your soulmate. And that pull you felt before when you were searching for them will explode into something nearly unbearable for the first few hours, it's only soothed by close contact with your soulmate. Newlyfounds need to be close to each other so the bond can settle and the soulmates can get to know each other.'_

He can sense the uninfected now. In the deepest part of him he knows they're close. He makes his way up the stairs follows the hall into another small room. This one has a door with a blue symbol on it. 

_'For some that means, um. Er- shenanigans if you will. For most others it just means finding the nearest spot, usually one or the others home, were you can both cuddle for the settling time. But for you...it's going to be very different.'_

He nudges the door open and steps into another hallway and stands and listens, not with his ears but with that instinct, listening to the pull of where the young male is. He hears an odd hissing noise and the sound of water rushing over something. 

_'Just. Take things slow with them. You'll have to be very very patient, they'll probably run at first. It's normal for us to run from things we're scared of or don't understand. And they definitely won't understand at first, they'll probably be shaken up and confused. Just... be calm and gentle when you're near them and hopefully they will come to understand you don't mean them harm.'_

He takes the right hallway, walking down it and around the left corner leads him up to a twisted mess of what apparently used to be a helicopter. Then he hears him. His sharpened hearing catching the soft pad of cautious and quiet steps somewhere on the other side of the metal. They stop for a moment, there's a strange rustling noise, then the footsteps draw closer.

He finally decides that it's time to remove the obstruction in his path, he needs to get to the other male, to see him. He leans down and grasps the edge of the twisted metal with his left hand and easily lifts it up and wrenches it further into the already crumbled wall and part of the ceiling.

He lowers his arm and takes a quick second to assess the now very crumpled remains of the copter, eyeing where it's wedged to make sure it's not going to collapse down again. A soft noise of shock has him looking down again, just a little ways down the hall in front of him is the young male uninfected he'd been tracking. 

His own piercing silver eyes lock on to startled navy blue and something in him _**jolts**_.

He suddenly understands what Handler meant. Something in him clicks and for the first time he feels right again. He studies the young male curiously as he watches him lower the gun he'd had raised, mouth dropped slightly open and blue eyes wide in terrified awe.

The male's left wrist starts to chime, it's echoed by his numbered wrist's own chimes, loud against the sudden silence that had befallen the two. This appears to shake the young male out of his sudden stupor, he jerks for a split second before he inhales sharply and takes a step back.

_'No no no, don't run.'_ He thinks in a panic as he quickly lowers his shoulders a bit, trying to make himself look smaller and less looming, desperately tries to convey to the young male _I am safe/calm/not a threat!_ but it's too late. The blonde has already bolted, and he already feels their bond writhing in pain at them being separated so soon after it was formed. It actually makes him stumble for a second, because oh he had never truly known pain until **this**. 

He regains himself quickly and goes to follow his newfound mate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn't expecting this to be a dual pov story on top of everything else but, well. Here we are. *Shrug*
> 
> Anyways, big boi tries not to scare smol cop. He failed miserably but doesn't know what he did wrong so now he's like: D:???
> 
> Don't worry i'm sure they can clear things up! Leon just has to stop running from his newlyfound long enough for them to sit and talk.  
(It's a lot easier said then done -3-")
> 
> -Also cookies to anyone who can figure out one very important detail that we now know thanks to the fact that we did see X's pov ;)


	3. Misunderstood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon would really appreciate it if zombies would stop trying to take chunks out of various parts of his body _thanks_. Also he gets sorta sassy when he's in pain.

Leon barely manages to stutter out a breathy "_Jesus Christ..._" before he turns on his heel and flees as the towering giant of a man in front of him had begun lowering his head and shoulders, like a bull preparing to charge you. Even though he can barely stand the aching throb of the bond protesting as he gets farther and farther from his apparent soulmate, like hell he's going to stick around to end up as another mangled up body!

He skids around the corner and slams open the door to the balcony as the sound of heavy footsteps begins to follow him. That has to be the monster that had killed Ben, it was certainly strong enough to do so, and he'd recognize those black gloves and footsteps anywhere. Was it going to kill him too? Crush his skull in like it did to Ben, or something worse? Leon prays that he is quick enough to outrun the man so he doesn't have to find out anytime soon.

He halts for a moment just before reaching the top of the stairs, just where would he go? The boiler room was a dead end, therefor a death sentence. Not to mention the two zombies that he'd taken down earlier could end up attacking him again if they weren't truly down. 

Maybe if he can trick the giant into thinking he'd gone into the boiler room, he could hide under the stairs long enough to remain unseen. He could run back up them when it had its back turned and he might just make it into the building before it could catch him.

Leon quickly races down the stairs and huddles at the back where he'd found the two green herbs from earlier, trying to melt into the shadows as much as he can. There's the sound of the balcony door opening, then the heavy set tread of the giant as it makes its way over to and down the stairs. 

When it reaches the bottom of the steps it walks past the zombies bodies and marches forward, a gloved hand reaching out to open the door. Leon breathes a mental sigh of relief that his plan is working so far, now he just has to hold his patience until it enters the boiler room.

He swears he feels his heart stop when the giant pauses just before it can grab the door handle, head tilting curiously. An odd noise reaches Leon's ear and in a heart stopping moment he realizes that its _sniffing_ the air. Like a damn bloodhound to a fresh target it's trying to sent him out.

_'Please please please just go already. You don't see me, you don't smell me. Please just leave already.'_ Leon frantically thinks as he watches the creature lower its arm back down and lift its head a bit higher. 

Then it turns and looks straight at him.

Not in his general direction, not at his hiding spot, it turns and looks straight into his eyes. The bond lurches and he can feel the desperation to be close with his newlyfound waring with the fact that the towering giant before him had literally popped a guy's skull without so much as breaking a sweat, and it could very well do the same to him if it catches him.

Leon's not stupid, he heard the echoing chime from the creature's own wrist, could feel the bond attempting to settle between them, but that doesn't mean this being, whatever he was, understands what just happened. If it's mission really is to kill him and other survivors then he doesn't doubt that it won't hesitate to see it through.

With that in mind, he decides to tell the bond and its resulting sickness aches to go _take a fucking hike_. He's been fighting for his life all night and he will continue to do so even without its unexpected input _thanks_.

So Leon leaps from his spot and is off like a shot, skidding and starting to make his way up the first few steps of the stairs-

**Reeeargh!**

-when a cold grip latches to his left ankle and sends him pinwheeling from being off balance, face first into the stairs he'd been attempting to run up. Leon ends up with one of the metal steps smashing dead center into his face, sending firey pain lacing up his skull straight up from his teeth, as well as a warm gush of blood dripping from his nose as it starts bleeding. He yells in agony as his face bumps against more steps as he is dragged further back down the stairs.

He does his best to ignore the pain in his face as he rolls onto his side and attempts to give the female zombie who'd latched onto him a good solid kick in the teeth. Hey if his teeth where going to be aching now because of her then she might as well get a taste of her own medicine.

The zombie gurgles a wet snarl at Leon before opening her jaws wide, preparing to take a chunk out of his ankle, when a deep dark _**growl**_ rumbles over them. It make both Leon and the zombie freeze in surprised terror before a huge black boot is slamming down on the zombie's skull. It shatters in an instant and Leon narrowly avoids having zombie brain matter splattered onto his face by shielding it with his arms.

Leon barely spares the body a shocked glance as he lifts his gaze to stare up in horror at his 'rescuer'. Blazing silver eyes stay trained on him even as the giant calmly lifts it's boot off of the mangled corpse and casually kicks the rest of the body away, sending it skidding into the male zombie's body. 

Leon feels his breathe stutter in his chest as he lifts himself onto his elbows, entire body shaking slightly as the larger man kneels down infront of him. A strange rumbling noise emits from the giant, _was it growling at him?_, and Leon swears his heart stops for a beat as the man slowly starts reaching one massive gloved hand towards him.

Without even thinking he's reaching down to his belt pouches and activating a flash grenade. He tosses it down at the monster's feet and whips around to scramble up as far as he can before it goes off. It never does much, he always seems to get stunned a bit by the blast even if he's much better off than the giant if it's bellow of surprised pain is anything to go by.

Leon chances a look back and sees that it had staggered back to its feet and brought an arm up and across its face, like it was trying to defend its abused eyesight even though the flash had already gone off.

Leon presses for the advantage while he has it and races back across the balcony to the door. He slams it closed behind him again just as the sounds of the creature's heavy footsteps starts up again. He races around the corner, grateful that at least now that the helicopter was out of the way he can get back into the rest of the department again.

He makes his way through the waiting room and takes the stairs two at a time, freezing just as he reaches the bottom step as the lone zombie in the room turns to face him from where it had been wandering near the medical gurneys. 

"Oh shit...Marvin." Leon's face twists with pain as he stares into the lifeless pale eyes of the man who would have been his lieutenant had this whole nightmare not happened in the first place. 

He puts Matilda back in her holster before slinging his shotgun off his back. 

"I'm so sorry lieutenant-"

He takes aim and fires a single shot directly into the man's head and Marvin's body drops like a stone, a good portion of his skull missing. He's one of the few who stays down on the first shot.

"-I'll stop this. I promise."

The heavy set footsteps and the sound of a door opening upstairs quickly jolts Leon from his grief. He darts across to the west office and quickly hurries his way through, grateful that the two zombies that were still inside had long since been dropped for good.

Leon goes through a quick mental check of where he's at. If he can make it up the stairs to the second floor without being spotted he could slip his way through the showers and into the hallway leading to the S.T.A.R.S. office. From there he just has to head through the unicorn statue's room and the library back to the main hall, he has to go through reception to make it to the records room.

Leon quickly hurries to the doorway as he hears and feels the giant getting closer, probably making its way down the stairs and towards the office door. He dashes into the next hallway- 

-and straight into a pair of lickers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always hated that particular pair of lickers, I always managed to forget about them until I ran into them in either hallway when they'd lunge out of nowhere all 'SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER'. Not a fun time. -^-
> 
> Also I do feel really bad for doing this to Leon, falling on stairs really fucking hurts, ESPECIALLY if it's face first. (Author speaks from personal experience)


	4. Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor X. He's trying his best. Also flashbangs amiright?

He regains his footing a moment after the slam of a door could be heard. The sharp ache from the bond becoming more prominent as his mate gets farther away. He desperately wishes he could call out to the smaller male, but his program chip prevents him from speaking the smaller beings language.

He trudges around the corner his mate has disappeared to and opens the door to step out into the rain once more. He steps out onto what appears to be a flat cement slab, it's only decorations being a couple of bright red benches along the walls of the building and the crumpled remains of the helicopter he'd pushed aside earlier.

He catches the scent of his mate on the wind, a fiery sweetness that is unfortunately is mixed deeply with _fear/anxiety/I AM FEELING THREATENED_. He hopes that he can figure out a way to translate the fact that the last thing he wants to do is harm the smaller male, but first he has to catch up with him. Following the fresh sent he makes his way down the sole stairway, promptly ignoring the two infected ones bodies. Well body, the female is still alive actually, though he's not quite sure why she's lying on the ground.

He steps over them and makes his way to the door of what appears to be some sort of equipment building for the water, the massive gurgling pipes leading down to it from the balcony give it away as the source of what had extinguished the fire. He's reaching for the doorknob when he feels the pull of the aching bond halt him before he can fully reach the handle.

He tilts his head in confusion, then he realizes something, taking a few quick sniffs of the air around the door to confirm it. Yes his mate had gone into this building recently, he can tell by the scent trail that'd been left behind. But the scent is a few minutes old at least, and there's no overlapping new scent trail which means...

He lets his arm drop back down to his side as he tilts head further up, parting his mouth slightly to better taste the scent on the air and that's when he hears it. He can just barely make out the sound of stuttering breathes coming from somewhere behind him and slightly to his right.

He turns and locks eyes with his mate for the second time.

He watches the realization and fear flash across the young male's face as they share a brief stare before his mate is jolting up and making a dash for the stairs. He takes a step forward, arm outstretched slightly as if he could reach his mate from such a distance-

**MY PREY!**

-when the previously motionless infected female rears up and clamps her hand onto his mate's left ankle, sending him careening off balance and face down into the stairs. An agonized cry rings through the air as she drags the young male closer towards herself, jaws opening wide in preparation to take a bite out of her latest victim. In an instant something in him _snarls_ and he's immediately marching towards the two.The sent of blood reaches him just as his mate rolls onto his side, raising a leg in preparation to kick the infected female squarely in the face.

_**'Let. Him. Go.'**_ He growls out darkly as he looms above the two, knowing that the female infected will understand this kind of speech but not his mate. And indeed her instincts scream a warning to her, causing her to freeze up, grip slackening ever so slightly on the male's leg. She's realized her mistake far too late though, in an instant he swiftly brings his foot up and slams it down _hard_. 

Her skull shatters to pulp under the blow, almost splattering onto his mate's face, but he's quick enough to bring his arms up to block the worst of it. He watches as his mate shakily lower his arms slightly, sparing the body a brief glance before raising his wide blue eyes up to him. 

Pleased to have finally caught up to the smaller male, he makes a point of maintaining eye contact as he lifts his foot and kicks the infected female's corpse away, unbothered by where it lands. His end of the bond is singing with delight at finally being so close to his mate as he crouches down in front of him, but to his disappointment the young male is still looking up at him with fear and apprehension.

He tries to comfort his mate by letting out a soft rumbling purr from deep in his chest while attempting to project to him over the bond _I protected you/you are safe around me/calm down_. There's a faint aching throb he can sense from where they'd evidently strained the bond already but otherwise no response. He knows it's only going to get worse the longer they don't let it settle, he needs to get closer so he can pick his mate up and locate a safe spot for them to nest for a bit. 

He decides to try his luck at picking his mate up now that he hasn't moved for a bit, it might be his only chance after all. He slowly reaches one hand towards the small male, attempting to gauge his reaction to being approached by him. His mate jolts and in a swift movement reaches down towards his waist and grabs an odd blue cylinder. There's a strange _chink_ and a _click_ before his mate is tossing the cylinder at his feet and racing up the stairs again.

He whines in disappointment as his mate disappears over the top of the stairs before he curiously looks at the cylinder by his feet.

_ **BANG** _

And suddenly his vision dissolves into black and white spots as he rears back to his feet with an scream of **PAIN/CONFUSION/AGONY** as he shields his eyes with one of his forearms. 

He immediately decides from now on that all blue cylinders like the one that just blinded him will be crushed into tiny unrecognizable pieces before his poor eyes can ever be assaulted like that again.

Once he can no longer see the spots dancing across his vision he becomes aware of the fierce throb over the bond, his mate is getting much farther away than he should be and the resulting stretch is sending shockwaves of stinging pain through him. He quickly hurries up the stairs and back into the building, slamming the door open in his haste as he follows the now urgent tugging of the bond towards the blue marked door again. 

His hearts flutter in concern when he hears a single gunshot go off in the next room, the central area, the area that had a freshly turned infected in it. 

He quickly opens the blue marked door and makes his way through the small room, opening the next door indeed reveals the central area. He trudges over to and down the stairs as quick as he can, taking note of the now dead infected by some strange beds held up by crossed metal bars. He steps over the corpse and is already scenting the air again, following the scent trail towards another blue marked door, reaching a hand up to open it.

And feels both his hearts _stop_ as the sounds of his mate's screams reaches his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heehee I know, cliffhangers. I'm evil. ;)
> 
> Though trust me when I say the licker bitches won't know what hit them once X catches up to them and Leon. He was so close to catching Leon and now there's lickers trying to encroach on what's his and he's _so_ not having it.


	5. Protector

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X doesn't appreciate lickers trying to eat his mate no siree. Poor Leon just needs a break from getting almost eaten by everything. (Minor Gore Warning)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Crashes back in covered in paint, glue, and various fabrics.* I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY!!! Things have been hectic, my final piece of my cosplay came in finally and I had to finish detailing some things before the convention I'm attending in about a week. Between that and some internal struggle for a bit with some private matters this took way longer to edit than I planned out! 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy regardless! Enjoy the story! -Lilly

Leon barely manages to let out a strangled noise of terror before he's tripping over the licker that had been crawling along the ground past the west office. It lets out an enrage screech as he flies over its back, quickly turning his landing into a roll in an attempt to not get gored by a flailing set of claws. In the midst of the chaos he ends up losing his grip on his shotgun, sending it skidding off somewhere down the halls. His back ends up against the safe room door as another screech rings out from the ceiling above the pair on the ground. 

Something hot and slimy wraps up his ankles and yanks him upwards and to the right, the sheer momentum of the swing sends him slamming into the wall beside the hallway's vending machine before dangling beneath the licker that had grabbed him with its tongue. Breathe knocked out of him from the sudden movements and collision, he doesn't register the other lickers close proximity until it's jagged maw latches onto his left arm. 

Leon lets out a startled yell of pain as sharp fangs dig into the meat of his forearm and _pull_.

Hot blood slicks down his arm as the flesh splits under the lickers sharp teeth and rough movements, causing him to yell again and try to claw at its tongue with his free hand. It proves pointless, his nails just slip uselessly along the slimy flesh as the ground licker gives another vicious tug. The licker on the ceiling screeches furiously before giving its own harsh tug, using his trapped legs to try to pull him farther up and away from its challenger. Agony races down his spine as his body is strained to the limit by the furious tug of war, they're fighting over him like a pair of ravenous dogs over fresh meat, and he's mostly likely going to end up torn apart if he doesn't figure out how to get at least one of them to let go soon.

_thud thud thud Thud Thud Thud THUD THUD THUD THUD_

He recognizes the familiar heavy footsteps a second before the West Office door gets slammed open so hard its doorknob actually gets imbedded into the wall, causing it to stay open.

The giant from earlier stands it the doorway, staring at him and the pair of lickers, who are still fighting despite the interruption. He looks startled for all of two seconds before his face twists into furious rage. The giant lunges forward, stepping on the ground licker causing it to squeal in pain and release Leon's arm as a loud **_SNAP_** echoes through the air. 

****

The giant then turns its furious silver gaze onto the licker on the ceiling, who is now attempting to pull Leon up to its waiting jaws so it can start feeding. Leon watches as well as he can from his upside down position as the giant reaches one massive gloved hand forward to grab the lickers tongue and yanks. The licker is pulled from the ceiling with a startled squeal as it falls, straight onto an awaiting fist. 

The blow causes its face to concave inward, splashing blood, bone, and brain matter across Leon's front, before the giant tears the tongue from the licker's mouth. It immediately goes slack around where it's wrapped around Leon's lower legs, causing him to drop to the ground with a grunt of pain as he lands on his back. The licker's body twitches from where it's being suspended by the giant's fist for a few seconds before it's launched down the hallway, where it skids past the safe room and crashes against the false potted plant in the corner.

Leon shudders in pain as he gasps from air, his back is stinging to high hell and his left arm feels like someone had just put it through a paper shredder. Fiery, stabbing pain laces up his arm whenever he dares to move it, and it's still sluggishly leaking blood as he clutches the injured appendage to his chest.

There's a loud snort from above him and the creak of leather before his soulmate's scarred grey face is looming into his line of sight.

Leon feels his breath stutter once again as silver eyes rove over his prone form, lingering on his cut up arm as it sluggishly leaks more blood onto his already coated vest and shirt. Attempting to sit up only rewards his action with a stinging ache flaring from his back and his arm throbbing in protest. A low noise emits from the man above him before he feels massive gloved hands wrapping up behind his knees and around his shoulders as he's scooped up bridal style. 

Leon lets out a noise of panicked suprise as he's hoisted up. He makes an attempt at ignoring how the bond is singing in relief at finally having some sort of physical contact with his soulmate, squirming a bit as the giant turns and begins marching through the stuck open door of the West Office. He manages to wiggle around for a few seconds more before the arms around him tighten a bit, not enough to hurt but he can tell they won't be easily moved, and a deep bone rattling rumble shakes him straight to his core.

Leon stills as he glances up to meet the unimpressed silver gaze of his soulmate. He can take a hint, he stops wiggling, not willing to see just how short of a temper the giant might have if pushed for too long. The giant carries him back out into the main hall, taking the ramp and heading around the front desk and towards the east wing of the building. 

Leon begins to puzzle over the giant's actions as the doors to the east office are shouldered open. It had defended him twice now, but why? Leon glances down at the giant's gloved right hand, which is still gently pressing against his right shoulder as he's carried, he can also feel the faint ache from the bond as it starts repairing any of the damage from the earlier strain. Ok so he probably knows why, maybe not fully a hundred percent sure, but maybe his soulmate really did know what their matching timers and bond meant.

Leon considers this development as they make their way through the office, out into the short hallway leading up to another desk area. He puts his thoughts on hold as the sound of soft growls reaches his ears, making him tense up as the giant steps into the desk area. It's Elliot, or what's left of the poor officer anyways. His infected torso is still sluggishly crawling around the floor, though it stops and raises its head when Leon and the giant get closer. 

**mrgh?**

Pale lifeless eyes stare up at Leon from where he's safely out of reach in his soulmate's arms, though the corpse does raise an arm like it's going to try to grab him anyways. With Leon being pressed up against the larger man he can fully feel the growl that is let out as the giant raises it boot and brings it down on Elliot's back. The same sickening _**SNAP**_ from earlier rings out, and that's when Leon realizes that it's the sound a spine makes when it's snapped in two.

Leon sends Elliot's now truly lifeless body an apologetic glance as his soulmate steps over the unmoving corpse and continues down the hallways. Leon feels a bit of panic begin to sink back in as they reach the corner where the stairs to the parking garage and cells lies. Was if he misread the giant's actions? What if it really just wanted to take him back to where it had made its last kill so it could another body to the pile?

Just as Leon is about to start thrashing the giant surprises him by turning from the stairs and making his way into the break room instead. 

Leon stares in surprised confusion as he's set down against the wall of the larger area, he's opposite of the table in the room and the doorway of the smaller room is on his left. He wearily settles down as he watches his soul mate haul the table and chairs over to the door leading out of the break room. The giant stacks the furniture against the door before he walks into the smaller room. There's several soft thuds, some shuffling, and then a loud scape of metal.

Leon watches with wide eyes as the the larger man casually hauls the two metal bunk bed frames and pushes them against the stacked furniture, clearly he's determined make sure that the door can't be reached. Leon pales nervously at the thought of why that might be.

The man spends a moment inspecting his work before giving a huff of satisfaction and walking over to one of the rooms open lockers. There's a soft creak of leather as the giant removes the belts around its arms and neck first, Leon couldn't understand why on earth one person needed so many belts for one outfit, accessories maybe? The massive black trench coat is next once the buckles are undone, the giant folds it up neatly and sets it in the bottom shelf of the locker, before removing the fedora and setting it gently on top of the folded coat. The giant's undershirt is pitch black and form fitting, with the sleeves ending just before his elbows.

Leon feels another small stutter of fear flash through him as the larger man makes his way back to him. The giant pauses upon noticing that he's curled himself tighter against the wall, watching him with wide scared eyes. His soulmate drops to a crouch in front of him as the soft rumbling noise from before, when they'd been outside the boiler room, starts up again. Leon realizes that the larger man hadn't been growling at him, he'd been _purring_. 

Leon wearily eyes the giant as it slowly reaches a hand towards him before making a small gesture to his clothing with an louder inquisitive rumble before it resumes purring. He stares at the larger man warily, before he takes a moment to look down at himself. Blood soaked vest? Check. Funky smell coming from said vest? Uhg Check. Ok so maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he removed it for a bit, especially since he could finally take a breather now that they where in what was probably the safest room in the station. He casts another weary look at his companion before letting out a soft sigh as he reaches for the straps of his vest, carefully removing the vital piece of material. He spares a second to remove his gloves as well, they're just as bloodied as his vest if not more so.

The giant patiently waits for him to get the straps undone and gloves removed, purring softly the whole time, before gently taking the clothing from his outstretched hand. It gets put in the same locker as the giant's coat and hat, though it's placed on the upper shelf instead of the lower one. His companion then slips back over to him, crouching down again, a hand extended again. Leon watches in confusion as the man rumbles gently at him before leaning forward enough that the knuckles of the outstretched hand gently brush over his chest.

Leon can't keep down the slight flinch of surprised worry as he feels the knuckles brush against him through the fabric of his shirt. What was his soulmate doing? He feels his heart flutter in slight shock as the man gently presses the back of his hand against his chest, it's so large it covers a decent amount of Leon's torso just out of sheer size alone. Then Leon feels a pulse of _safe/calm/love_ over the bond, he can feel it better now thanks to the contact. 

Leon stares in surprise, because yeah the larger man definitely knew what the bond and timers meant, before he tentatively sends back his own soft flash of _Scared/Stressed/Tired/Sorrysorrysorry_. Silver eyes soften as the hand moves from his chest to gently cup face instead. Leon's eyes flutter shut on their own accord as he leans into the touch, curiously noting that the skin against his is a few shades warmer and slightly rougher than his own.

He opens his eyes against when he feels the hand draw back, only to let out a noise of startled alarm as hands grip him an either side under his arms and lift him up and against his soulmate. Leon's instinctively wraps his legs as much as he can around the man's broad waist as he turns and walks them both into the smaller room. Leon cranes his head around and realizes that the thuds from earlier where the mattresses from the bunk beds, they'd been arranged in the back part of the room along with the pillows and blankets to make... Was that a nest?

He puzzles over this for a moment as before the giant carefully sits them down in the middle, keeping his larger frame between the doorway and Leon. He's softly pulled back a bit as his soulmate studies him, eyes lingering on his lower face before he's leaning forward. Leon's thoughts stutter to a halt as a warm tongue gently swipes over the patch of skin between his lips and the bottom of his nose. What the hell? He realizes that he's being cleaned, and the faint memory of seeing cats clean their kittens comes to mind. A few more warm swipes of a tongue before his soulmate pulls back, examine where he'd been licking before his attention is drawn to Leon's injured left arm. 

It promptly gets the same treatment as his face, broad warm swipes of a tongue lick the blood away and leave behind trails of sticky saliva covering the cuts. Leon cringes slightly in pain when his wounds get licked, only to stare in surprise as they slowly start sealing up. The saliva melds over and covers the cuts, like its forming a barrier as they heal. He blinks in surprise as he checks over his arm, he'll have a few minor scars from where teeth had cut deepest, but otherwise it's already infinitely better than anything he could have done, even if he had a fist aid spray or nibbled on some of the herbs he'd been collecting.

Leon glances back up to the soft silver gaze that is watching him as he murmurs a quiet "Thank you.", his soulmate lets out another loud purr as he nuzzles against Leon's fluffy blonde hair. Then he's gently being laid down in the tangle of pillows and blankets, his soulmate carefully lays beside him a moment later. Leon is then gently dragged back to the larger man as massive arms cradle him against a warm chest, he can feel the faint purring from where his cheek his pressed against warm the warm under clothes material.

Leon spends a moment appreciating the enveloping warmth surrounding him before he's startled by the faint stinging sensation in his eyes as he sniffles quietly. The faint purring stops as his soulmate pulls him back slightly to stare at him in concern. Leon brings a hand up to rub away the faint trace of tears in his eyes as he stutters an apology, trying to get his words across to his soulmate. 

"M...m'sorry. I shouldn't have run earlier. It's just that... after everything I've been through tonight I was just so shaken up already. And then I saw you and I though you where going to kill me like you killed Ben timer or no timer-" A loud rumble cuts his rambling off. Leon looks back up as his soulmate gives him a puzzled look, head titled to the side in confusion. 

"Oh... uh. Ben is the guy who was in the jail cell." 

More confused staring.

"You smashed your fist through a wall and grabbed him, then crushed his skull?"

A soft head shake _'no?'_.

"I recognized the gloves you where wearing, same one that was on the hand that killed him." 

At this his mate furrows his brows before a flash of alarmed realization passes over his face. Leon grunts in surprise as he's crushed against a broad chest as his mate curls around him, likes he being protective. But why... oh. _Oh no_.

"Are... are there more of, uh, your kind?" 

He can feel the single nod of his mate's head.

"How many more are here, in the city?"

He feels five gentle taps against his back.

"So six, including you?"

Another nod.

"A-and. One of them, the one that killed Ben is in the station..."

A high whine of worry as a nose gets tucked against his neck.

"And I'm guessing that unlike you he won't hesitate to kill me?

His mate curls over him with another deep rumble, that now is starting to borderline on being a growl as his mate leans to press their foreheads together. He can see the protective fury swirling in blazing silver eyes.

"Ok. I trust you. Lets just hope we don't run into any of the others on our way out of the city."

Something deep inside him tells him it's not going to be that easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to end with the cuddles and fluff but my brain decided foreshadowing was a better option. *Shrug*
> 
> Btw, I'm debating wether Claire/Ada should be a thing in this story. What do you guys think? 🤔


	6. Announcement 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT UPDATES (Not a chapter)

Ok guys, thank you so much for being patient with me! 

You don't understand how much it means to me that people are still reading this and leaving such amazing and supportive comments. (Seriously guys I was rereading the comments while viewing the current chapters and I cried a little.)

Anyways, couple of things.

So first and foremost: THIS STORY IS NOT BEING ABANDONED.

I have looked over this story again and again once I came back from my unexpected break and have decided that I am going to continue working on it and, hopefully, finish it before the year's out. Fair warning it's going to be a long process no matter what turn the story takes from this point forward. 

Secondly. The potential story plots.

I've been doing some thinking and hashing out on some of the ideas I initially had in the beginning when I first started this story. I've narrowed it down to two major plots, and I need you guys to help out because for the life of me I can't decide which one to write.

(Possibly, I might be able to write both plots. Starting with a new story page for the second plot from where the two diverge in the original story. I really would like to be able to write them both, but I just can't say for certain if it will for sure happen.)

So, I'm going to try to give basic summaries of the two plots without giving away too many important details so work with me here. 

First Plot: 

Will follow a generally similar layout to what happens in the game plot for certain places, events, and people, while other events will still occur but will have changed from cannon due to characters being involved in places or events they wouldn't be in normally. Only one new original character to be... I suppose you could say added? Arrrrrgh, its complicated and I can't explain them and their part in both plots without major spoilers. TvT

Basically it follows along similar routes to what happens in the game with some cannon divergence during certain parts.

Second Plot:

Will follow the same story line from the first plot up to a point before starting an almost complete cannon divergence from what happened originally in game other than the basic areas of where the characters go in regards to actual locations. Major divergence starts with the introduction of several major new plot characters including the one mentioned in plot 1. (Only the character from plot one is technicality a full original character, I think? The others are... complicated to say the least.) The new characters involvements in the plot is what seriously changes most of the story as it moves forward. 

So, starts along a similar line as the first plot until the introduction of a group of major characters during a certain segment in the story, they then change the core of the plot and story from then on.

Lastly. Will I be continuing this story here? (This story page or whatever you'd like to call it, I'm not moving from Archive anytime soon.)

No not on this page, the first main line story will be reposted as a newer re edited version once I can confirm which plot I've decided on. But it will be started on a new page. As this is my original start to the story, it will not be removed or edited further, but serve as an update page from now on, also possibly a place where I will answer questions or respond to comments from you guys. Like a Q & A page.

Let me know what you guys think and which plot you're in favor of, and hopefully I will be able to make my decision and follow up announcement before the end of February. Until then I will be working on rereading chapters 1 through 5 and seeing what parts need editing or spellchecking for the repost. Cleaning them up if you will. Chapter one actually has a possibility of being rewritten either mostly or completely but I'm still deciding on that. I will also answer any questions or concerns that I can so don't be afraid to ask me about anything! Except spoilers. No spoilers for you. >:v

Again thank you everyone so much for sticking with me so far everyone, your love and support of this story is what's inspiring me to continue it and hopefully make it into something worth all the praise and love it's been getting so far!

See you guys again in February!

-Lilly

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: Sorry should have explained before but in short the basics of this universes soul timers is like this:
> 
> -Timers are number on either of your wrists, they will move to a different spot on the body if covered, damaged, or loss of limb occurs. They are just numbers, no fancy markings or shapes in this universe unfortunately.
> 
> -Timers count down to the exact second when you lock eyes with your soulmate, which means you could walk past your soulmate without making eye contact and not even know it. This just lengthens the time until you actually meet them.
> 
> -A fully counted down timer means the soulmates have met, the only reason why a person would have a stopped timer that was still counting down is if they're soulmate died before they could meet.
> 
> -A single blood red line through your timer means the soulmate is deceased, which in this universe does count even if your soulmate is a zombie or another type of virus related mutation. A death of a soulmate is the death of their soul, it's what makes them who they are, not the actual body.


End file.
